Over 400 extreme pornographic images found on County Derry man's phone

Police found more than 400 extreme pornographic videos and images on a Limavady man's phone after they arrested him for a drug offence, a court has heard.

David Johnston, of Irwin Avenue, appeared before Limavady Magistrates Court, sitting in Coleraine courthouse, this morning (Wednesday) charged with three counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image on May 19 2022.

The 61 year-old was further charged with possession of a Class B drug, namely cannabis.

The court heard that police called to Johnston's home and carried out a search.

Officers located a small amount of herbal cannabis during the search and a number of other items were seized, the court heard.

Johnston was arrested and brought to Coleraine police station where his phone was seized and examined.

The court heard that police found 462 videos and images on the phone which were of an extreme pornographic nature.

Some of the images had been taken from a chatroom that Johnston had been in.

During interview, the defendant stated and accepted that he had the videos and images on his person but he didn't know that it was an offence.

Defence barrister Nicki Rountree said Johnston had been living a 'very isolated existence' and this loneliness had been exacerbated by health issues.

“He had been trying to combat the loneliness by joining a number of social media sites,” said Ms Rountree.

She stated that Johnston had 'met friends online' who had recommended other sites to him.

She added that there was no suggestions that Johnston had been involved in distributing any images however he did accept ones that had automatically saved to his camera roll.

“He didn't realise the significance of receiving images,” said Ms Rountree, who added that the cannabis found in the defendant's property was 'for personal use'.

District Judge Peter King sentenced Johnston to four months in prison, which he suspended for 18 months.

In addition, Judge King fined Johnston £150 for the drugs offence before warning him to 'choose your friends very carefully'.